The present invention relates generally to the field of data backup systems, and more particularly to synchronizing data to update backup files.
As computer usage becomes increasingly prominent, file backup is an essential task to secure important personal and/or business data. The files on a computer are fragile and can be destroyed or damaged by a software malfunction, viruses, worms, Trojans, and the biggest cause of lost files, the operator. The risk of file loss has led computer users to store files at locations other than the local computer, such as on backup disks or online backup. Therefore, if a computer crashes or is infected with a virus that results in a loss of files, these files will still be accessible at that other location. The lost files can then be restored to the local computer using the backup source.
One known program used for file backup is RSync. RSync is a remote file/data synchronization protocol that allows the user to synchronize files between two computers. In other words, it ensures that both copies of the file are the same. RSync is capable of synchronizing files without sending the whole file across the network. If there are any differences, RSync detects these differences and sends across the differences, so the client or server can update their copy of the file to make the copies the same. However, while RSync is an efficient backup utility for a small to moderate number of files, it has some difficulties in meeting backup windows when dealing with a large number of files, i.e., hundreds of millions of files.